Hamburg State Opera
Encyclopedia
The Hamburg State Opera (in German: Hamburgische Staatsoper) is one of the leading opera
companies in Germany
.
Opera in Hamburg dates back to 2 January 1678
when the "Opern-Theatrum" was inaugurated with a performance of a biblical Singspiel by Johann Theile. It was not a court theatre but the first public opera house in Germany established by the art-loving citizens of Hamburg, a prosperous member of the Hanseatic League
.
The Hamburg Bürgeroper resisted the dominance of the Italianate style and rapidly became the leading musical center of the German Baroque. In 1703, George Friedrich Handel was engaged as violinist and harpsichordist and performances of his operas were not long in appearing. In 1705, Hamburg gave the world première of his opera Nero.
In 1721, Georg Philipp Telemann
, a central figure of the German Baroque, joined the Hamburg Opera, and in subsequent years Christoph Willibald Gluck
, Johann Adolph Hasse
and various Italian companies were among the guests.
To replace the aging wooden structure on the Gänsemarkt, the first stone was laid on 18 May 1826 for the Stadt-Theater on the present-day site of the Hamburg State Opera. The new theater, with seating for 2800, was inaugurated less than a year later with Beethoven's
incidental music to Egmont.
The building was renovated in 1873, when both the exterior and interior remodeled in the reigning "Gründerzeit" style of the time, and again in 1891, when electric lighting was introduced.
Under the direction of Bernhard Pollini, the house mounted its first complete Ring Cycle
in 1879. In 1883, the year of Wagner
's death, a cycle comprising nine of his operas was commenced. The musical directors Hans von Bülow
(from 1887 to 1890) and Gustav Mahler
(from 1891 to 1897) also contributed to the fame of the opera house.
In the beginning of the 20 century, opera was an important part of the theatre's repertoire; among the 321 performances during the 1907?08 season, 282 were performances of opera. The Stadt-Theater performed not only established repertoire but also new works, such as Paul Hindemith
's Sancta Susanna, Igor Stravinsky
's The Soldier's Tale, Ernst Krenek
's Johnny spielt auf , and Leoš Janáček
's Jenůfa. Ferruccio Busoni
's Die Brautwahl (1912) and Erich Wolfgang Korngold
's Die tote Stadt (1920) both had their world premieres in Hamburg. In the 1930s, after Hitler came to power, the opera house was renamed Hamburgische Staatsoper.
On the night of 2 August 1943, both the auditorium and its neighbouring buildings were destroyed during air raids by fire-bombing; a low-flying airplane dropped several petrol and phosphorus containers on to the middle of the roof of the auditorium, turning it into a conflagration.
The current Statsoper was opened on 15 October 1955 with Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. Hamburg continued to devote itself to new works, such as Hans Werner Henze
's The Prince of Homburg (1960), Stravinsky's The Flood (1963), Gian Carlo Menotti
's Help, Help, the Globolinks!
(1968), and Mauricio Kagel
's Staatstheater (1971).
In 1967, under the direction of Joachim Hess, the Hamburg State Opera became the first company to broadcasts its operas in color on television, beginning with Die Hochzeit des Figaro (a German translation of Le Nozze di Figaro). Ten of these television productions have been released on DVD by ArtHaus Musik as Cult Opera of the 1970s, as well as separately. All of these were performed in German regardless of the original language (six were written in German, one in French, two in English, and one in Italian).
More recently, Hamburg gave the world premières of Wolfgang Rihm
's The Conquest of Mexico (1992) and Helmut Lachenmann
's The Little Match Girl (1997), for which it received much international acclaim. The company has won the "Opera House of the Year
" award by the German magazine Opernwelt in 1997 and in 2005.
Since 2005, the Australian conductor Simone Young
has been general director of the Hamburg State Opera.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
companies in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Opera in Hamburg dates back to 2 January 1678
1678 in music
-Events:*June 19 – Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers is appointed to join Nicolas Lebègue, Jacques Thomelin and Jean Buterne as an organists of the Chapelle Royale at the French court.*John Blow becomes a doctor of music....
when the "Opern-Theatrum" was inaugurated with a performance of a biblical Singspiel by Johann Theile. It was not a court theatre but the first public opera house in Germany established by the art-loving citizens of Hamburg, a prosperous member of the Hanseatic League
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
.
The Hamburg Bürgeroper resisted the dominance of the Italianate style and rapidly became the leading musical center of the German Baroque. In 1703, George Friedrich Handel was engaged as violinist and harpsichordist and performances of his operas were not long in appearing. In 1705, Hamburg gave the world première of his opera Nero.
In 1721, Georg Philipp Telemann
Georg Philipp Telemann
Georg Philipp Telemann was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesheim, Telemann entered the University of Leipzig to study law, but eventually...
, a central figure of the German Baroque, joined the Hamburg Opera, and in subsequent years Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
, Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a considerable quantity of sacred music...
and various Italian companies were among the guests.
To replace the aging wooden structure on the Gänsemarkt, the first stone was laid on 18 May 1826 for the Stadt-Theater on the present-day site of the Hamburg State Opera. The new theater, with seating for 2800, was inaugurated less than a year later with Beethoven's
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
incidental music to Egmont.
The building was renovated in 1873, when both the exterior and interior remodeled in the reigning "Gründerzeit" style of the time, and again in 1891, when electric lighting was introduced.
Under the direction of Bernhard Pollini, the house mounted its first complete Ring Cycle
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
in 1879. In 1883, the year of Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's death, a cycle comprising nine of his operas was commenced. The musical directors Hans von Bülow
Hans von Bülow
Hans Guido Freiherr von Bülow was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. He was one of the most famous conductors of the 19th century, and his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, including Richard...
(from 1887 to 1890) and Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
(from 1891 to 1897) also contributed to the fame of the opera house.
In the beginning of the 20 century, opera was an important part of the theatre's repertoire; among the 321 performances during the 1907?08 season, 282 were performances of opera. The Stadt-Theater performed not only established repertoire but also new works, such as Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
's Sancta Susanna, Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
's The Soldier's Tale, Ernst Krenek
Ernst Krenek
Ernst Krenek was an Austrian of Czech origin and, from 1945, American composer. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including Music Here and Now , a study of Johannes Ockeghem , and Horizons Circled: Reflections on my Music...
's Johnny spielt auf , and Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
's Jenůfa. Ferruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni was an Italian composer, pianist, editor, writer, piano and composition teacher, and conductor.-Biography:...
's Die Brautwahl (1912) and Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austro-Hungarian film and romantic music composer. While his compositional style was considered well out of vogue at the time he died, his music has more recently undergone a reevaluation and a gradual reawakening of interest...
's Die tote Stadt (1920) both had their world premieres in Hamburg. In the 1930s, after Hitler came to power, the opera house was renamed Hamburgische Staatsoper.
On the night of 2 August 1943, both the auditorium and its neighbouring buildings were destroyed during air raids by fire-bombing; a low-flying airplane dropped several petrol and phosphorus containers on to the middle of the roof of the auditorium, turning it into a conflagration.
The current Statsoper was opened on 15 October 1955 with Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. Hamburg continued to devote itself to new works, such as Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze is a German composer of prodigious output best known for "his consistent cultivation of music for the theatre throughout his life"...
's The Prince of Homburg (1960), Stravinsky's The Flood (1963), Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular...
's Help, Help, the Globolinks!
Help, Help, the Globolinks!
Help, Help, the Globolinks! is an opera in four scenes by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English libretto by the composer. It was commissioned by the Hamburg State Opera and first performed as Hilfe, Hilfe, die Globolinks! in a German translation by Kurt Honolka on December 21, 1968 in a...
(1968), and Mauricio Kagel
Mauricio Kagel
Mauricio Kagel was a German-Argentine composer. He was notable for his interest in developing the theatrical side of musical performance .-Biography:...
's Staatstheater (1971).
In 1967, under the direction of Joachim Hess, the Hamburg State Opera became the first company to broadcasts its operas in color on television, beginning with Die Hochzeit des Figaro (a German translation of Le Nozze di Figaro). Ten of these television productions have been released on DVD by ArtHaus Musik as Cult Opera of the 1970s, as well as separately. All of these were performed in German regardless of the original language (six were written in German, one in French, two in English, and one in Italian).
More recently, Hamburg gave the world premières of Wolfgang Rihm
Wolfgang Rihm
Wolfgang Rihm is a German composer.Rihm is Head of the Institute of Modern Music at the Karlsruhe Conservatory of Music and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Salzburg Festival...
's The Conquest of Mexico (1992) and Helmut Lachenmann
Helmut Lachenmann
Helmut Lachenmann is a German composer associated with musique concrète instrumentale.-Life and works:...
's The Little Match Girl (1997), for which it received much international acclaim. The company has won the "Opera House of the Year
Opera house of the year
Opera House of the Year , is an award from the German monthly magazine Opernwelt. Each year since 1994, at the end of the season, a jury of 50 critics selects an opera house in Austria, Germany or German speaking Switzerland for the award....
" award by the German magazine Opernwelt in 1997 and in 2005.
Since 2005, the Australian conductor Simone Young
Simone Young
Simone Margaret Young AM is an Australian conductor. She is music director of the Hamburg Philharmonic and general manager of the Hamburg State Opera...
has been general director of the Hamburg State Opera.